Tuesday, 3 January 2017

Poor refereeing decisions deny West Ham a share of the spoils from Manchester United encounter

West
Ham 0-2 Manchester United

West
Ham were left ruing poor refereeing decisions that denied them a share of the
points in this entertaining game at the London Stadium.

The
turning point in the game came after 15 minutes when West Ham’s Sofiane
Feghouli was sent off after a full blooded clash with defender Phil Jones. Both
players were going for the ball but it was Jones who theatrically rolled away
looking more the injured party. Referee Mike Dean duly sent Feghouli off.

West
Ham manager Slaven Bilic was in no doubt that the referee made the wrong decision,
denying that the offence deserved a yellow card, let alone a red. “It wasn’t a
yellow, the more I look at it, Jones made the more dangerous tackle,” said
Bilic, who confirmed the club would appeal the red card.

An
incensed Bilic, also refuted the view that such decisions even themselves out
over a season. “I don’t believe these things do even out, “ said Bilic recalling
a number of bad refereeing decisions that cost his team games last season.

Up
until the sending off it had been an equal contest, with Manuel Lanzini
bringing a good save out of David De Gean after being set up by Feghouli.

The
same player brought an acrobatic save out of De Gea later in the half, as his
shot seemed to be curling into the top corner of the net.

West
Ham though were forced to defend deep and in numbers. The closest United came
to scoring came in the 34th minute, when keeper Darren Randolph
somehow saved a shot from Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the line, only for Antonio
Valencia to fail with his attempt at a follow up.

The
second half saw West Ham’s ten men continue to valiantly battle on, with
Michail Antonio failing to convert, when put clear through by the impressive
Lanzini.

The
miss proved decisive, as three minutes later subsitutes Marcus Rashford and
Juan Mata slickly combines for the latter to put United ahead.

A
second goal followed, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring whilst he and two others
were in blatanty off side positions.

Manchester
United manager Jose Mourinho admitted that had Antonio converted his chance, he
doubted whether United would have won.

Unwilling
to talk about the refereeing, the United boss was happy to discuss how his own
decision to bring on Rashford and Mata, freshened things up and turned the
game. “Coming from the bench fresh people make a difference,” said Mourinho.

Bilic
also saw the Antonio miss as vital.”The chance came, we had to score it. If we
scored anything was possible.They’d have to score two,” said Bilic.